Friday, June 26, 2015

YALSA at ALA in San Francisco

It's time for the annual conference of the American Library Association, this time in San Francisco, California! I'm lucky enough to be presenting alongside an amazing panel, thanks to YALSA. Here's the lowdown:

The
WeNeedDiverseBooks movement challenges us to help young people connect with
their passions, desires, and interests by embracing diversity. A panel of
scholars, authors, and practitioners including Professors Sylvia Vardell and
Antero Garcia, librarian Marianne Follis, and authors Janet
Wong, Margarita Engle, and Lesléa Newman will
discuss how diversity is key—in literature, media, and programming and in
embracing and exploring questions of cultural and sexual identity.

Our program
weaves together the perspective of scholars, authors, and practitioners combining
the expertise and context of each unique setting, highlighting the potential
for collaboration. In addition, the focus on diversity is crucial, examining
the spectrum of cultural and sexual identity in literature, media, and
programming showing how a cross-cultural, cross-platform focus meets the needs
of today’s teens in meaningful ways.

If you're at the conference, come join us!

A Select
Bibliography of Books by Presenters

1. Dietzel-Glair, Julie and Follis, Marianne. 2015. Get Real with Storytime: 52 Weeks of Early Literacy Programming with Nonfiction and Poetry. Libraries Unlimited.

17. Garcia, Antero and Middaugh, Ellen. 2014. “Lost, Sweaty, and Engaged in Dialogue: The Civic Opportunities of Geospatial Play” in #youthaction: Becoming Political in the Digital Age edited by Ben Kirshner and Ellen Middaugh. Information Age Publishing.

Special thanks to
Candlewick Press, Simon & Schuster, and Pomelo Books for their support!

We have an amazing slideshow and our session will be audio-taped plus we have heaps of freebies to give away too. I hope to share some nuggets from our session later-- and attend the Poetry Blast and report on that next week too. Meanwhile, happy Poetry Friday, everyone! Head on over to Carol's Cornerwhere she is hosting our gathering this week.

About Me

Sylvia Vardell is a professor and author of the ALA bestseller POETRY ALOUD HERE, also THE POETRY TEACHER'S BOOK OF LISTS, POETRY PEOPLE, CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN ACTION, and the co-editor of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY series and the POETRY FRIDAY POWER BOOK series in collaboration with poet Janet Wong. Vardell is also the poetry columnist for ALA’s BOOK LINKS magazine and for the NSTA journal, SCIENCE AND CHILDREN (along with Janet Wong). A frequent speaker at conferences, Vardell chaired the NCTE Poetry Award committee, served as a judge for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and has been a consultant to the Poetry Foundation.